Pad and method of manufacture



19-45- J. E. VALENTINE ET AL 5,

PAD AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE Filed April 20, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet l lbINVENTOR. b b c/OJEPH E WILL-WT/ E. v y RALPH J P5774. M

A TTORNE Y -v 1945- r J. E. VALENTINE ETAL -2,366;680

PAD AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE Filed April 20, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR;

r/oSEPH 5. M4: f/vm/z ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 2, 1945 it OFFICE PAD ANDMETHOD OF MANUFACTURE Joseph E. Valentine, Plainfield, N. J and Ralph J.Pefia, New York, N. Y., assignors to Oxzyn, Company, a corporation ofNew Jersey 7 Application April 20, 1943, Serial No; 483,826 Claims.(01.155-184') a This invention relates to a pad-like article adapted toserve as a bearing surface, or a closure means, or both, herein termed apad, and to a method of making the article.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical, andeiiicient article and method of making the article, of the abovementioned kind.

- Another object of the invention is to provide a pad adapted to.beinterposed between arigid member and a non-rigid member, such, forexample, as a portion of the human body, and to provide a bearingsurface adapted to conform to the surface of the non-rigid member, andto define a shielded area around a portion of said surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pad adapted to provide abearing surface surrounding a concavity the depth of which may be variedwithout substantially decreasing the width of the concavity.

Another object of the invention is to provide an, improved method offorming a pad comprising an annular envelope swingably related to acentral web-like member.

' Another object of the invention is to provide a pad having a bearingportion, and a non-bearing portion the spacing of which from a givensurface is variable due to the ability of said bearing portion to changeits line of contact with said surface. i 1 I Another object of theinvention is to form a pad of the kind described which may be readilyattached to or detached from a foundation or backin member.

Another object of the invention is in general to provide'an improvedarticle of the above men tioned nature and to provide an improved methodof constructing the same. Other objects will be in part obvious or inpart pointed out herebe pointed out in the following description, and

the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the followingclaims.

i l i In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a horizontal cross sectional view of a pad embodying ourinvention, showing in exploded relation a means for attaching the pad toa backing or carrier; l

the pad'and attachmentmeans assembled to a backing or carrier;

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 2, but

showing the web portion of the pad provided with a central opening;

Figure l 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the hinged or swingingaction of the bearing por tion of the pad relative to the web portion;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing Figure 5 is an explodedview, showingin perspective the'members comprising the pad shown inFigure 1;

Figure 6 is a vertical cross sectional view showing two stages in'theforming of 'a pad from the members illustrated inFigure 5; and

Figure 7 isanother view similar to Figure 6' illustrating a furtherstage in the formation of the pad. i

' Our pad comprises the facing member In, the disk-like pad offillingmaterial II which may; if desired, be annular, as shown in Figure5', and the backing memberJZn The material selectedfor members 10,, and12 may of course vary widely according to the use for which the pad isintended and itis to be understood that we do not intend to limitourselves to any particular material or materials. If, however, the padis intended for use as a bearing surface against a portion of thehuman'body, we prefer to use for the facing member a moisture absorbentmate,- rial since it can. be readily asepticizedand since a surface onwhich moisture does not readily filling member H may preferably be madeof a compactible, resilientmaterial, such, for example, as cotton orwool padding, and the backing member l2 may desirably be made of a lessexpensivematerial than the facing material, such for example, ascoarsecotton cloth.' The backing member preferably has a coating of adhesivematerial, as, for example, a,thermoplastic adhesive, on its innersurface for facilitatingthe assembly of the members into a pad as: willbe described.

Referring now to Figure 1 the pad which we form with the members H), H,and I2, comprises acentr'al web portion I3 having-around its'peiripheryan annular envelope M, which is expanded'andgiven a rounded surface bythe in clusion therein of disk-like fillin member II, which ispreferably, butnot necessarily, annular, and which in the embodiment ofthe invention illustrated herein is preferably bent over upon itselfperipherally within said. envelope so that the portion or arm, I5, issuperimposed upon the portion or arm, 16.

The web portion 13 comprises portions of the superimposed facin l andbacking l2, secured together as at y. The laminated, substantially planesurface, thus formed within the area defined by the circular line ofunion 2/, is relatively thin compared to the envelope portion 14.

The envelope portion of said pad similarly comprises portions of facingmember Ill and backing member I2, the superimposed peripheral portionsof which are interengaged as at x, but it is of substantially greaterthickness than the web portion l3 due to the inclusion therein offilling member H, which, as bent over and compacted therein, issubstantially U-shaped in cross section.

As illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 4, the bearing surface of thepad, due to the hinge-like connection between the envelope portion [.4and the web portion l3, may swing from the plane of the web to aposition substantially normal to the plane of the web and in so doing,increases the lateraldisplacement of the web from the bearing surface ofthe pad. As the envelope portion swings inwardly its line of contactwith a surface ainst which the pad is presented, moves outwardly aroundthe rounded bearing surface, as, for example, from b to b, Figure 4, andit will be noted that when the envelope is substantially normal to theweb the line of contact indicated by b is in substantially the sameplane normal to the web as the previous line of contact b, indicatingthat while the depth of the concavity debe apertured at H, and adaptedto register with the apertures N3 .of the carrier IT, to receive theshank portion of the internally screw threaded members n, the headportions of which are interposed between members [9 and 20. After themembers l9 and have been superimposed on backing I2 the shank portionsof the internally threaded members. 2Z,may be inserted through aperturesl8. in carrier l'l, anddetachably secured therein by means of theexternally screw threaded members. 23 which are adapted. to. engage insaid internally screw threaded members. 22.

We, prefer to position the means for attaching the, pad and carrieradjacent to the hinge-like connection between the web and envelopeportions of the pad, so that a substantial portion of envelope. [4 willbe able to swing inwardly, thus presenting a different line of contactto a surface against which it is presented, as pointed out above inconnection with Figure 4, and thus moving the web portion 13 and thecarrier l'l away from said surface and. increasing the depth of theenclosed space defined by said pad and surface, without substantiallylessening theperimeter of the line of contact between saidenvelopeand'surface,

By making the carrier I! of a diameter less than the maximum diameterof: envelope M the latter may be given a cantilever action and swungaround the periphery of the carrier, as illustrated bythe dotted lines.inv Figure 4, thus: lessening the stantial portion of member ID extendsradially beyond. the mold opening. We next place the disk-like fillingmember I l on top of facing member l0, and center it thereon, saidmember ll being also of a diameter greater than the diameter of the moldcavity so that a portion of said membenon the order of one-half of thewidth.

thereof, will extend radially beyond the moldcavity. We then force thesuperimposed members II and Ill downwardly into the mold cavity,

as. by means of the die or plunger 26, the diameter of which ispreferably substantially less than the diameter of the mold cavity,until they reach the bottom thereof, which, as illustrated herein, maybedefined by the horizontal surface 21.

During the downward stroke of die or plunger 26 it will be understoodthat the peripheral portions of the members llland II, which extendradially beyond the, periphery of the mold cavity, will be bent upwardlysubstantially at right angles to the portion of said members I0 and l Iwhich are substantially of the diameter of the mold cavity. When saidupwardly extending peripheral portions of members It and H reach thepart of the mold cavity of increased diameter, defined by the curvedportion 25 of the mold wall, the sharp angle between the horizontalcenter portions and the vertically extending peripheral portionsrespectively tend to roundand the peripheral porthe mold.- cavity thebacking member l2 which is of a diameter onv the order of the diameterof the upper portion of the. mold cavity and is thus.

adapted to extend over the central portion of the superimposed facingand filling-members and to.

overlap the bent over inwardly extending peripheral portion of facing.ill on top of arm I6 of the peripherally bent over filling member Ill Wethen insert member l2 in the mold cavity, and join it to the uppersurface of the facing member Ill around its bent over, inwardlyextending peripheral portion, on top of arm l6 of filling member H, andpreferably also to the inner surface of facing member I0, or to thefilling material if it is not cut away centrally as illustrated, withinthe area defined by the inner periphery of the bent over portion offilling member H.

For performing these steps we prefer to employ a backing, member l2which is coated on its under surface with a thermoplastic adhesive ofany suit able, known kind, and to secure it to facing memher It at thetwo above mentioned places by employing a hollow die 28;, the externaldiameter of which should be greater than that of die member 26,illustrated in Figure 6, and of a, size to substantially fill the upperportion of the mold cavity. The die 28 is of sufficient. thickness sothat its lower end will extend over the overlapped portions of facing toand. backing i2, and is prot Figur 1.

vided with the downwardly. projectingcontact 29,

which is heated, as for example, by an. electric circuit, notshown, andserves tosoften the thermoplastic adhesive carried by backing member .I2

and to thus secure together the peripheral portions of members and I2,as illustratedat at in The die member 28 has the internal plunger' 30which isadapted to move below the lower end of die 28, and its diameteris preferably less than 2. The method of making a pad and the likecomprisingpositioning a circular soft, resilient filling on the backside of a disk-like facing material member, inserting the combinationinto a die chamber having a progressively increasing diameter, thuscausing the edge portion of said i facing to bend around andover a faceof said the diameter of the space defined by the bent over,inwardlyextending arm [6 of filling member ll so that, inthe embodimentof the invention f shown herein in which the filling member is annular,plunger 30 will carry the central portion i of the backing member intocontact with the rear surface of facing l0 and, by meansof heatedcontact 3| will cause the backing "l2 and facing:

ill to be joined together, as for example, along .the line y indicatedin Figure 1.

It will be understood that by joining the facing member ID and backingmember I2 together along the line y the web portion l3,is formed and theannular envelope portionj I4 is sealed,

with the peripherally bent over] annular filling member ll compactedtherein, with its armporti'ons I5 and I6 pointing inwardly toward thecenter of the finished article, and with its bent overor curved portionenclosed by the outer pe riphery of said envelope so that the tendencyof arms and It to open, together with the resiliency of. the materialfrom which the filling disk II is formed, contour the envelope portion14,, giving it a rounded bearing-surface projecting laterally from the,plane of th web portion l3 of,

the completed pad. i It will thus be seen that an article in whichthevarious objects hereinabove set forth together with many thoroughlypractical, advantages are; successfully achieved. As various possibleembodiments might be made in various parts, all without departing fromthe there has been provided by this invention a method, apparatus, and Hof the mechanical features of the bove invention, and as. the art hereindescribed might be varied filling infolding said filling, pressing abacking over the rear face of said filling and over the bent overedgeportionof saidfacing, and securing it to the saidbent over edgeportion of said ing member peripherally bending over together thesuperimposed filling and facing members, superimposing a backing memberover the bent over edge portions; of said superimposedfilling and facingmembers, and attaching said backing to said facing member at the bentover edge portion.

ing member having a substantially round peripha ery superimposed on afacing member having a' substantially round periphery, said superimposedfilling and facing membersbeing bent over pethereof and at the centralportionthereof inside the 1ine defined by thee-dge of said superimposedbent over portion of said filling member.

4. A pad and the like comprising, a resilient fill ripherally, and abacking member superimposed over the bent] over edge portions of saidfilling and facing'members and cooperating with the scope of theinvention, it is to be understood that i all matter hereinbefore setforth or shown in the,

accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense,

What we claim is: 1

1. A pad comprising a relatively thin web memher having, around itsperiphery anannular envelope of deformable material filled with a resilient, padding member, said padding member being bent over upon itselffrom its outer peripheryinwardly whereby it is adapted to exert anexpanding force upon said envelope.

facing member to form a closure enclosing said filling member saidsuperimposed backing and facing members being joined together along aplu rality of radiallyspacedlines.

5. A pad assembly comprising, a filling member having a substantiallyround periphery superimposed on a facing member having a substantially.

M round periphery, said superimposed facing and filling members :beingbent over peripherally, and a backing member superimposed over the bentover edge portions of said filling andfacingmembers and cooperating withthe facing member to t c form a closure enclosing said filling member,said superimposed members being joined together along a plurality ofradially spaced lines, and a rigid carrier memberdetachably secured tothe said closure enclosing said filling member and of a size such that aportion of said pad may be bent over the edge of said carrier.

JOSEPH E, vlgLnn'rmn. RALPH J. PENA.

a pad which com- 7

